A whimsical novel about miracles and inner-darkness in which Maggie Stiefvater writes in her own completely original style.
Maggie Stiefvater is one of a kind. She writes like no other young adult author I have ever come across. She is so totally unique in her writing style and I give her props because it is really good writing!
But it's not necessarily my cup of tea.
I know, I know. I'll probably get some major hate because of this since Maggie Stiefvater is a good writer, and her massive fanbase is certainly proof of her talent.
However, even though I do recognize amazing writing for what it is, I just think my writing style preferences are very different from the style Maggie Stiefvater writes in. I could not invest myself as deep into this novel as I expected and could not enjoy it as much as other people most likely do because it just did not meet my preferences.
‣ The last 100 pages picked up the pace of the plot.
While I did not like the writing style and during the first 200 pages I wanted to DNF, I did not give up. And the last 100 pages did not disappoint. They were filled with excitement and anticipated realizations that made at least 100 of the first 200 pages worthwhile. I feel like after page 200, the plot finally started picking up the speed that it so sorely lacked. That saved the book for me.
‣ Beatriz and her lack of feelings.
Beatriz was a very relatable character for me. I don't really associate closely with emotions and am confused by the way others express their emotions so boldy, so I definitely connected to Beatriz's whole personality. She looks at things in a statistical, critical, and detached sort of way that I feel like I do a majority of the time. This is actually the first character with this trait that I've ever found in a young adult book so that was very exciting.
“We almost always can point to that hundredth blow, but we don't always mark the ninety-nine other things that happen before we change.”
‣ The idea of miracles in pairs, showing inner darkness that one has to defeat in order to actually recieve a miracle.
I thought the whole basic idea that made up the foundation of this novel was really interesting and creative. It talks about miracles and how they come in pairs. The first miracle is when your inner darkness (whatever bothers you about yourself or whatever major problem you've been carrying around) takes a sort of physical state. This state makes it impossible for the darkness to be ignored like it had been before. In order to get the second miracle, which is actually an enlightenment of sorts, you have to come to terms with your inner darkness and defeat it head on. It's a super cool idea and I feel like readers can actually take away some pretty valuable messages from this story, such as: face your problems instead of running away from them, and better things will come as a result.
‣ The writing style was not at all like I usually prefer.
Like I said before, the writing is great, but my tastes just do not align. I just couldn't get into the book with the way the writing was styled and that took out a lot of potential enjoyment I could've had for the story. Despite this, I will continue to try to read Maggie Stiefvater books in an attempt to learn to enjoy and love her writing style more.
"Humans are as drawn to hope as owls are to miracles. It only takes the suggestion of it to stir them up, and the eagerness lingers for a while even when all traces of it are gone."
‣ The first 200 pages were slower moving than a turtle moving backwards.
Maybe it was the writing style or the time period in which this book's setting was placed, but I just found the first 200 pages to be slow and boring. I found myself wondering when the book would ever end or when the plot would finally start to pick up. I did not like the feeling I got from the first half of this book, which was as if I were walking in circles when I could've been walking straight and making progress.
In the end, I will totally give more Maggie Stiefvater books a try, but I won't get too overly excited or get my hopes up because the writing style probably will not change and so the only hope is that my preferences will. And I've liked the same things since forever, so I doubt even that's going to be possible.
All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater
311 Pages / Hardcover
Published October 10th, 2017
Publisher / Scholastic Press
Rate / ★★☆☆☆
Here is a thing everyone wants: a miracle.
Here is a thing everyone fears: what it takes to get one.
Any visitor to Bicho Raro, Colorado is likely to find a landscape of dark saints, forbidden love, scientific dreams, miracle-mad owls, estranged affections, one or two orphans, and a sky full of watchful desert stars.
At the heart of this place you will find the Soria family, who all have the ability to perform unusual miracles. And at the heart of this family are three cousins longing to change its future: Beatriz, the girl without feelings, who wants only to be free to examine her thoughts; Daniel, the Saint of Bicho Raro, who performs miracles for everyone but himself; and Joaquin, who spends his nights running a renegade radio station under the name Diablo Diablo.
They are all looking for a miracle. But the miracles of Bicho Raro are never quite what you expect.
